Monday, October 10, 2011

Book Review: A Thief in the Night

About a month ago I reviewed a new book by David Chandler called Den of Thieves. It was a great book, that left me looking forward to the second book in the series. Well, the second book came in the mail free last week! I guess because I took the time to review the first one. My thanks to Harper Collins Publishing.

Anyhow, if someone sends me something for free, I feel its only right to review it. I'll always be honest, too, which I guess is the reason people don't send me anything for free to review. :)

A Thief in the Night picks up a short time after Den of Thieves leaves off. The thrust of this book is a delve into ancient dwarven mines.

As he did in the first book, Chandler turns some common tropes and assumptions people have about swords and sorcery books on their heads. There is moral ambiguity, suspicious paladin types, creepy elves, ancient double-crosses that play a part in today's world, weird magic, and a group that is often at odds with each other and seem to be using each other to pursue their own goals at times. Picture Gandalf's Company of Nine as a bunch of selfish Neutral types with conflicting goals all entering Moria together and you get the idea.

That being said, it was a good ride, and kept me guessing as to how it would turn out for various characters, who would live, and how things would resolve as to the big-picture. The good thing about flipping some assumptions on their heads is that the reader is always trying to figure out if other assumptions might be flipped, and how other aspects of what you expect to happen will be affected. When neat happy endings aren't the expectation, it keeps the reader on their toes throughout the story.

The book is well-written and kept my attention the whole time, which is rare for a book these days. Its book two of the Ancient Blades Trilogy, so if they keep up this release schedule, book three will be out in a month or so. I look forward to it!